School Blog

I was in a group of four, a perfect size. Our teachers, José and Marisa, made sure we all got a chance to speak, and we learned a lot about Spanish culture and politics as well as help with the Spanish language.

Being so small, the school does not have its own cafe or social area so I didn't get much chance to meet other students. I had to miss the introductory session for new students on Monday afternoon because it clashed with the cookery class. It would have been nice to have some sort of social event on the first day, something which was offered at other schools I have attended. But that's my only real criticism.

I also did a couple of the excursions in Granada, one to the Hammam Arab Baths in the Albaizin (a wonderful experience and if you book via the school you get a third off), and a walk through the beautiful Lecrin Valle with OlivaTours, which I have reviewed separately.

I stayed at the Santa Ana apartments in Albaizin, about 20 minutes' walk from the school. I have reviewed this separately.

Overall, I can definitely recommend the Escuela Montalbán as an opportunity to learn or improve your Spanish.

(Claire Lloyd / 63 years old  / from UK)

朝9時から14時までレッスンした後でアルハンブラ宮殿やアルバイシン地区を観光し、勉強に遊びにめいっぱいのプログラムです。ホストファミリーになってくれたJosé先生の授業は非常に分かりやすく、曖昧模糊としていた知識がクリアになり、たった5日間でしたがかなり内容でした。学校は初日だけで個人レッスンだったのでグループレッスンのことはわからないですが、学校全体からアットホームな雰囲気が伝わってきました。滞在した先生のお宅では、奥様と2人の小さいお子さんがいらっしゃいますが、とても温かい雰囲気で迎え入れてもらったので非常にリラックスしました。食事もすべておいしかったし、滞在した部屋は別棟の個室なのでプライバシーも確保されています。お家からの景色も最高です。絶景を眺めながらのお勉強はとてもおすすめです。

Spanish lessons were always really interesting, we had some grammar exercises everyday but what I liked most was that there was a strong emphasize on the speaking part. I really liked all of the teachers that I had classes with!. They used all kind of different activites to keep us active with a lot of games for speaking spanish which was really great because it get you so enagaged into game that you don't realize when you speak spanish! Hahaha :) Also all of the classes were in spanish, which might sounds scary for some people but actually it's the best way of learning so don't be afraid! Teachers know how to explain everything with a little bit of acting if needed ;)

If you want not only learn spanish but also have a nice time after classes escuela montalban is a perfect choice. Every week they organize a lot of cultural activities, you can go to cinema, see flamenco show, go to the beach.

I would highly recommend going for tapas tour with Marisa which is usually happening on every monday evevning! She is one of the teachers and she knows all the best places in Granada to go for tapas and delicious tinto de verano! :) It is a great way of getting to know other students just at the beginning of your stay and practising spanish! And usually most of the students participate in this activity - it's completelly free! You just pay for the drinks you order - which is around 2 euros per drink (+ free tapa)!

Well and Granada! Another great thing about escuela montalban is that it's located in Granada, one of the most charming cities in Spain! Really, I was in few places in Spain but Granada made such a strong impression on me. Beautiful streets, Albaicin, Sacromonte, Alhambra - ach so many beautiful places! Also Granada is not so big, so you can just walk almost everywhere and don't be afraid to be lost! :) Och - just don't forget to book ticket for Alhambra in advance - because they tend to sold out pretty quickly!

(Basia from Poland / September 2015)

Je voulais aller en Espagne car c’est plus naturel et rapide pour moi d’apprendre une langue en étant plongée dans un pays où elle se parle …

J’ai été à l’école Montalbán à Grenade pendant trois semaines, où j’ai suivi les cours standard (3h tous les matins du lundi au vendredi). La pédagogie interactive des cours, la dynamique de l’ensemble des étudiants et des professeurs, l’humour et la bonne humeur m’ont permis de progresser en trois semaines, et d’intégrer grammaire et vocabulaire dans la pratique – ce qui est pour moi indispensable pour ne pas oublier une fois l’expérience finie. Evidemment, la dynamique des étudiants n’est pas prévisible à l’avance, mais ça se passe généralement bien.

Des activités culturelles sont aussi proposées par l’école, qui complètent bien l’apprentissage de la langue. La communication avec et entre les personnes du staff de l’école facilitent beaucoup l’organisation: ils sont là pour répondre aux questions, aussi bien avant qu’on arrive que sur place.

Pour le logement, j’avais choisis de loger dans un appartement partagé avec d’autres étudiants. Il y a d’autres possibilités (logement dans une famille de Grenade…), et tout cela est très bien expliqué sur le site de l’école: www.escuela-montalban.com.

Pour moi, ces trois semaines furent de vraies vacances, où j’ai rencontré beaucoup de gens sympathiques. J’ai encore beaucoup à apprendre en espagnol, mais je peux maintenant me débrouiller et aborder les sujets qui me tiennent à cœur.

The classes are small, usually no more than six students. Also, the students come from a wide variety of different countries, so that in many cases the common language is Spanish. There are also a wide variety of ages at the school; I've been in Spanish classes with students from ages 18 to 70.

Even the beginning level is taught with complete immersion, which is the fastest and most effective way to learn a new language. Paco, who often teaches the beginning level, does a creative job of teaching with no English whatsoever. He is a wonderful professor, though, even if he is teaching a more advanced level. One week he was teaching the B2 intermediate/advanced level, and he had us read Lorca's famous poem "Verde te quiero verde," and drove the four of us in his class to the place where it is believed that Lorca was shot at the start of the Spanish Civil War, a location that also has a mass grave of other victims. What an unforgettable experience!

Maria is another professor for the beginning level, and she is the one in charge of instruction/curriculum; she has many years of experience. So even at the beginning level you have teachers who are highly-qualified and have years of experience!

Marisa, the professor for advanced grammar, knows how to explain complicated grammar to foreigners. If you want to prepare for a level of the DELE exam, she is very experienced. However, she also takes time to enjoy being with the diverse student population at the Escuela Montalban outside of regular class hours. Usually once or twice a month, usually on Monday evenings, she takes students on a Tapas crawl (in the evening/at night) to the local pubs, and she knows all the best places! These evenings usually turn out to be quite the international mix of conversations. I've learned so much about France, England, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Iran, the Czech Republic, Greece, and California! She and her husband also own a churros cafe, so if you want to learn how churros are made, you might get to go to the churros cafe during class and get a demonstration in Spanish!

If you are a teacher (like me) and planning to take one- or two-week classes to refresh/renew your Spanish, the school offers excellent classes. You will learn new grammar even if you are a C2 level student, and will also get a chance to share with other teachers about how to best go about teaching grammar. My favorite cultural classes (these were taught by professor Jose Luis) were about politics (such as 15M and Podemos), current music for use in the classroom (such as Calle 13), and current films and film clips (directors such as Fernando Leon de Aranoa, David Trueba, etc.).

The school does an excellent job of organizing technical details like lodging. They are organized, 100% reliable and there is a 24-hour emergency number. The Jose that works in the office (and speaks EXCELLENT English) even helped my husband and I print our boarding passes, and I know he has helped others book train or bus tickets when they had difficulties. The office will speak English (or German, or French, etc.) with you to ensure that the details are done right.
One of the wonderful things about Granada is that there are always cultural events taking place in addition to the tourist attractions like the Alhambra that are a must! I am a classical music fan, and the International Festival of Music and Dance happens every summer for over a month! There is also a summer foreign film festival downtown in June, and another in the Sacromonte in July, and there is lovely old-fashioned movie theater downtown (Cine Madrigal) that has a different high-quality film each week.

This is an amazing school! The best in Granada!!

Karen from USA :)

I’m quickly falling in love with Granada and with the Spanish language. I’ve always considered myself language challenged – I studied some French in high school but it was a bit of a lost cause. Late last year, I decided to stop making excuses and dedicate a significant amount of time to learning at least one additional language. It didn’t take long to choose my target language. I’ve heard from multiple sources that Spanish is the easiest of the Romance languages, and it’s obviously the most useful second language as a US citizen. There’s a good chance that I’ll have the opportunity to practice Spanish at home; plus I’d like to spend some time in Latin America in the near future. Fluency may never be possible, but if I can ever communicate on a 1st grade level, I’ll consider it a massive win ...

Read more at Tabitha's BLOG

The Spanish classes were split up into different levels, indeed during the week that I was there I was in a class of only 2 which was great for learning and there were numerous opportunities to hang out with the other students during breaks.

I couldn't have asked for a better teacher in Paco, who was extremely funny, patient and an extraordinarily gifted educator. The entire class was in Spanish, which, if I had known in advance might have made me a bit worried about whether I could understand but it totally worked. Somehow with even my low level of Spanish it wasn't a problem. Paco was able to communicate extremely effectively even to a class of total beginners.

The school itself has a great atmosphere and is definitely one of the highlights of Granada for me. The teachers are very engaged, funny and relaxed. There are students from all over the world which makes it a really fun place to study. The teachers made paella for us one lunch time, and gave us an opportunity to bring food from our respective countries (or whatever we could source in Granada) which was a great way of meeting people from different cultures.

This is without actually getting into some of the unique selling points of the school. There is a fantastic itinerary of optional electives and trips. Indeed if you are booking through an agent I would advise contacting the school directly (the office staff have excellent English) so you can time your flights to go to as many of them as possible. I don't know if they vary them so I won't list them here, but they were really special.

I had no issue with the language school. The agent I used to book the trip, golearnto, got the dates of the course wrong (it was 5 instead of 7 days) which made things unnecessarily difficult with flights but I put the blame for that on the agent, so that's the only thing to look out for.

In summary, if you are thinking about signing up for this school then my categorical advice is do it. I can't think of anything to improve.

David Forrest (29 years / Glasgow) in TRIPADVISOR

If you are looking for a passionate teacher, who will enhance your Spanish skills while stimulating your critical mind, you found the right place. We studied 6 weeks Escuela Montalbán - Spanish language school in Granada, Spain and we really loved it. You can find historical memories on each corner, the vibe of the city is intense and the team at the school is extremely friendly! You will enjoy lots of activities, whenever you decide to go there. Go swimming on the coast shore, skiing on the Sierra Nevada, visit Morocco for the week end! The place is the right one. Have a look at my pictures of the our stay there...

Have a look at my flickr Album here!

Positive aspects of the language school were: the quality of the Spanish lessons, the small groups, the individualized follow-up of progress, the nice atmosphere, the interesting cultural program, the flexibility.

What future students should not miss: the cultural activities are good to discover Granada and Andalusia, as well as to build relationships with other students. The school is small and has therefore a human dimension. Its location in the city center allows the students to reach all activities by foot.

(Jean Claude / France / 55 years)

I loved the whole week. The school is wonderful and Granada is a beautiful city. I learned some Spanish, danced some Flamenco, explored the city and met some great people. I can't recommend it enough and will definitely be doing it again!

(Claire Flint, Newark, United Kingdom / October 2014)